As social media continues to drive the demand for fast fashion, SHEIN marketplace has taken online shopping by storm by redefining affordability and setting a new, faster pace for fashion cycles. In 2022, SHEIN became the world’s largest fashion apparel retailer, offering customers popular products at affordable prices.
Up until recently, the online store offered exclusively SHEIN products as an online retailer. In 2023 though, SHEIN marketplace was launched for third-party-sellers– transforming its already popular website into a new ecommerce platform, perfect for multichannel sellers looking to expand. In this guide, we’ll cover how to sell on SHEIN marketplace and everything you need to establish yourself as a standout seller on the channel.
What is SHEIN?
SHEIN is a global, online fashion retailer that has become known for offering trendy clothing and accessories at incredibly low prices. Over the past few years the online marketplace has rapidly gained traction with shoppers worldwide, due to its wide selection of products and styles that are always evolving.
The SHEIN marketplace offers consumers:
- Fast fashion. Part of what makes the SHEIN marketplace so successful is that it’s constantly churning out new styles to keep up with social media platforms. The online marketplace moves so quickly that some products are only available for a few weeks.
- Affordable products. Perhaps the biggest draw of SHEIN marketplace for Gen Z and younger millennials is SHEIN’s ability to keep prices low and continuously offer trendy and affordable products.
- Wide selection. The SHEIN marketplace offers a vast selection of clothing, accessories, shoes, luggage, beauty, personal care products, and more. You can find everything you need (and perhaps some items that you don’t) to build a complete wardrobe all at once.
- Online only. Unlike many other ecommerce businesses, SHEIN is exclusively an online store. The online-only business model helps to keep lower costs and continues to attract more customers.
Benefits of Selling on SHEIN
SHEIN’s explosive growth as an ecommerce platform has created a devoted community of potential customers that third-party sellers can take advantage of. By selling on SHEIN, you stand to gain:
More Customers
Today SHEIN boasts over 72 million monthly active users, making it the perfect ecommerce platform for your expanding multichannel businesses to a reach a global customer base. Plus, since SHEIN is a comparatively new online marketplace your brand can reach millions of these customers before your competitors even have the chance.
Pro Tip: Make sure that your target audience aligns with the customer base available on SHEIN marketplace before expanding. Customers on SHEIN are looking for product offerings at a lower price point compared to different platforms and are often younger.
Increased Visibility
When it comes to fast fashion, SHEIN offers massive reach to a global customer base, both on their website and on social media. This type of reach is invaluable for brands look to improve their reputation and credibility among consumers.
Plus, SHEIN has an impressive following of over 250 million potential customers across various social media platforms. To help boost visibility, they can (and will!) share your brand on the platforms to sell products and drive engagement. Not to mention, SHEIN has relationships with thousands of influencers for marketing to your target audience.
Greater Opportunities for Sales
At the end of the day, SHEIN offers your multichannel business a new platform to sell products and boost overall sales. By taking advantage of every opportunity to reach new potential customers and market your brand strategically, you’ll see increased metrics across the board.
How to Sell on SHEIN
Just under two years ago, SHEIN launched its United States marketplace, allowing individual sellers to offer their products on the website. However, before you can start selling on SHEIN you’ll need to make sure your business is a good fit. Not only does your business need to meet the requirements SHEIN has for third-party sellers to be accepted, it also needs to offer items in the available product categories and h Make sure that your business is a qualifying third-party seller, that you offer products that fall within the available categories, and provide the right documents.
Who can become a SHEIN seller?
Before you can dive into how to sell on SHEIN, it’s best to make sure that you qualify. SHEIN has three main requirements for third-party sellers and resellers, including:
- You must be an established business entity with the correct legal paperwork.
- Your business must be registered under U.S. jurisdiction, with capabilities to ship directly to United States citizens.
- The monthly revenue for your business must be $5 million or above, ensuring that you have a strong business model.
These requirements are designed to target multichannel businesses that are looking to expand ecommerce platforms. So, if your multichannel business is ready to grow into new online marketplaces, SHEIN is likely a great fit.
What products can you sell on SHEIN marketplace?
Although apparel is the largest category on the SHEIN website, there are actually ten product categories you can sell. Currently, you can sell under any of the following product categories:
- Apparel & accessories
- Shoes & luggage
- Beauty & personal care
- Baby products
- Toys & games
- Sports & outdoors
- Pet supplies
- Electronics
- Home & kitchen
- Office & school supplies
How to Apply for SHEIN Marketplace
Applying to sell on SHEIN is a simple and straightforward process, but to make it even easier we’ve put together a step-by-step guide for your convenience:
1. Visit the SHEIN Marketplace page and click “Get Started” to begin.
2. Next, you’ll be asked to provide some details about yourself and your business. On this page you’ll also be able to select your main product categories.
3. Submit your application for review. It can take up to 7 days before you’ll hear back.
4. Once you’ve been accepted as a seller on SHEIN, you’ll be asked to provide several documents for your business, as part of the onboarding process. If you need help at any point, SHEIN offers dedicated onboarding support.
5. Begin setting up your account in SHEIN seller hub.
Documents required to sell on SHEIN
In order to ensure that your business is legit and a good fit for SHEIN’s target audience, they require several documents. Make sure that you have copies of the following documents and forms available to submit:
- Certificate or articles of incorporation for your business.
- Your most recent W-9 form or W08BEN-E form.
- Trademark registration certificate.
- HD PNG file of your brand logo.
- Driver’s license or passport.
SHEIN Marketplace Fees
Although SHEIN has a lower cost to sell than most ecommerce platforms, the online marketplace still comes at a price. According to SHEIN’s seller FAQ page, the marketplace has the following fees:
- A flat 10% fee for sales across all product categories for every purchase.
- A $1 charge for any order not delivered within 7 days of its purchase date.
Pro Tip: New SHEIN sellers can avoid the flat fee on sales for the first 3 months on the platform.
Managing Your Multichannel Business on SHEIN
As SHEIN grows into a thriving channel for your ecommerce business, it can be difficult to manage it alongside different platforms. That’s where an integrated solution for inventory and shipping management can come into play. You can connect your SHEIN account to Base within seconds to take advantage of all the advanced automation functionalities.
Managing a multichannel ecommerce brand can be a difficult and overwhelming task without the right tools to support your business growth. That’s why Base offers sellers a fully integrated solution for multichannel ecommerce management, including order, shipping, product, and marketplace management, among a variety of other tools. You can get started today with Base’s 14 day free trial here.
